Finding the Public Domain: The Copyright Review Management System

Abstract

This white paper discusses the Copyright Review Management System (CRMS), supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services over three National Leadership Grants. Led by the University of Michigan in collaboration with 19 other highly dedicated research libraries, the project resulted in a system to train and coordinate reviewers to assess the copyright status of digitized books held in the HathiTrust Digital Library. Over the course of the three interrelated grants, we developed expertise in managing a large collaborative project. The project team documented these lessons in a book called Finding the Public Domain: Copyright Review Management System Toolkit. The Toolkit shares practical insights gained in this effort in the hope of supporting others interested in copyright review. This brief complements the practical toolkit. It explains the history of CRMS and introduces the basics of the CRMS procedure. It then discusses some of the lessons, successes, surprises, and challenges of the work.